Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Where Bluebirds Fly: Synesthesia Shift Series, Volume 1

Publishers Summary

Verity Montague is a servant in 1692 Salem. Her flaming red hair and mismatched eyes make her a prime target for accusation of witchcraft. Orphaned during the Indian raids, she and her brother with Asperger's Syndrome come to live with the key historical figures of the trials - The Putnams. They keep their synesthesia secret - that days, months and years appear as color in Verity's mind, and for John, that symphonies play in a Fantasia-style performance of colors and geometric patterns. Truman Johnstone 's ability to discern people's expressions, and decipher if they were lying - made him an outspoken child. Being different kept him from being adopted till he was fourteen. He now runs an orphanage for problem youths, and is a feeding therapist in his desire to help children deal with their peculiarities. To give them the childhood he never had. The harvest festival corn maze Truman creates every year has an unwelcome visitor. Children hear disembodied voices skipping through the corn maze amid the backdrop of eerie orchestral music. In every year of the calendar, intermittent doors of time swing open and closed, so long as the cornfield stands. In societies set on sameness - all are outsiders. They learn the traits that make us outcasts, may be the very ones that make us great, and that true love may heal all, and even transcend time.

My Review

A well written tale by an author who is obviously very knowledgable about Aspergergers and it's manifestations. However, for me, it was not any easy listen, the different tenses and time periods caused me to lose the thread a little too easily, and I never did quite understand the secrets of the corn maze. For me, the story did not lend itself well to audio. This is simply a personal thing, obviously my mind doesn't cope easily with shifting time! However, because I felt the story to be compelling, I do have the book on order from my library.

Narrator Karen Krause

This book must have been an awesome task to narrate, but Karen Krause did the job and did it well. Her navy blue and silver voice mastered the differences of time, gender, age and accent, worth listening to if just for that.